The Masked Singer Vietnam

The Masked Singer Vietnam (Ca sĩ mặt nạ) is a Vietnam reality singing competition that premiered on HTV2 - Vie Channel, Vie Giải Trí and the VieON app from July 16, 2022. This is the Vietnamese version of the South Korean television show King of Mask Singer, and is part of the Masked Singer franchise. The show is presented by Ngô Kiến Huy, with Trấn Thành, Tóc Tiên, Wowy (later Đức Phúc) and Bích Phương appearing in each episode as panelists, along with at least one guest panelist in each episode.

Format
Each season of The Masked Singer Vietnam features a group of celebrity contestants. 15 contestants will be divided into 3 groups. They will be in mascots and their identities are hidden throughout the show. Each contestant will be provided with a hint video with clues related with that mascot. The contestant then performs a song with his or her real voice. The panelists can ask the contestant for more information, and are also provided with other clues about him/her to predict who the character is. The contestant will conceal his/her voice during that time.

At the end of each first mascots' performance, the panelists write their prediction about the contestant's real name. This is kept unknown until the contestant takes off the mask (only the first name written will be considered).

At the end of the episode, the panelists and 99 audiences in the studio will vote for their favorite contestant. This is then converted to the percentage of votes for each contestant. Whoever has the lowest votes will be eliminated and have to reveal his/her real identity.

As of season 2:
 * In the first round, all mascots in a group compete together. Two lowest-voted mascots from audiences will perform a battle performance, with the lowest-voted one by panelists and audiences being eliminated. Two subsequent rounds have the same rules, but with battle round eliminated and whoever has lowest votes will instead being unmasked.
 * In episodes 10–12, the remaining contestants will be divided into 3 groups, with each group consisting of 3 contestants from each group. The contestant with the highest votes is safe for the next round, and the remaining 2 must perform a play-off performance and the panelists will decide who goes on to the next round.
 * In episodes 13–15, the remaining contestants will perform weekly. For the semi-final night, there will be additional mascots, and no one will be eliminated, with their votes being transferred to the final.
 * In the final (episode 16), only the one with the lowest votes is eliminated. The remaining 3 continued to be voted by audiences, and results will be announced at the awards ceremony.
 * The mascot with the highest votes in the Top 3 wins the title, owning the "Golden Mask" trophy. Both the runner-up and third place contestants will get a medal.

In addition, the "Golden Ear" trophy is also present for the best panelist of a season. The prediction of each panelist will be announced when a contestant is eliminated. A correct prediction will give the panelist 1 point. After all contestants' identities are revealed, the panelist has a highest score will receive the "Golden Ear" trophy.

Production
Vie Channel announced in July 2022 to have bought the local franchise of King of Mask Singer. Teasers for all mascots were also announced later on. On July 6, 2022, Trấn Thành, Tóc Tiên and Wowy were announced to be the main panelists.

Talking with Thanh Niên for the show's concept, the Vie Channel representatives said: "We realize that Vietnam has many potential singers who sings very well, but it seems that they are being lost and lack opportunities to develop against the microelectronics music... If those talents have the opportunity and the stage to showcase their talent, why don't we do this to help revive professional music?".

The producers said that it took two years for them to produce and broadcast The Masked Singer Vietnam. According to the initial plan, the show would be filmed and premiered in 2021, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, it was delayed. This, nevertheless, be a time for improving the quality of the show.

The show is currently co-produced by Vie Channel and VieON.

Contestant selection
Choosing artists with each have different attributes is the first real challenge to the producers. In addition, they also tried to find artists of different ages and generations with the view to reaching more audiences. When the list of artists is complete, production begins; this takes them another half year, however, to discuss and take on the best strategy.

Theme song
The official theme song of the show is "Behind The Mask" by Châu Đăng Khoa, performed by Sofia and Red. This made the first appearance in the first episode of The Masked Singer Vietnam.

Mascot and costumes
The mascot sets were designed by Ngô Mạnh Đông Đông. Inspired by animals, he created mascots with elaborate designs, meticulous to every detail. Each set of wings is decorated with feathers and stones. With his outstanding talent, he has created lively mascot sets, bringing to the public works of high-quality arts. Speaking about designing those special mascots, he said that he loves taking risks, upgrading himself with new challenges and he hopes to receive many compliments for his "one-of-a-kind" mascot. Despite his rich experience in jewelry making, he still finds it difficult to design mascots. He had to invite United States' experts to Vietnam to learn and research, and even had to learn non-specialist jobs.

According to the show's representative, each mascot is built according to a different story and personality, creating a new highlight of the show that no other has at that time. The mascots are also considered to be unique and more classy than the original one. Also, the mascots are made such that they can still sing normally without the need to open their mouths but can still sing. Ngô Mạnh Đông Đông also said: "The microphone placement of each mascot is also very important. [...] We have to learn very carefully about this when putting the mic in, as well as adjusting the position of it so that the artist can see and sing normally".

In order for the artists to have the most comfortable experience singing in their mascots, the producer said that they had special requirements when ordering mascot sets with the designer. "Our order was that the mascots should be beautiful, comfortable to wear in, and technically guaranteed for the artist to be able to sing, even if they are heavy or bulky. We and the designer worked very closely together, wearing the mascot over and over again with the band, and only when the technical requirements are guaranteed can the artist wear it to sing. As "The Masked Singer Vietnam" is a competition among artists, with quality first, we does not make difficulties for artists in mascot. Mascot is just an external form that creates stories for artists, and technical factors must be guaranteed to the highest such that they can perform their best in the competition." They also said that the investment for those mascot sets took them more than 1 year with a total cost up to billions dong. The mascot sets of the program are all elaborately made, designed using many expensive materials worldwide. Each mascot set is modeled many times, and they must ensure aesthetic factors and technical requirements when performing... before making a final product. After each round, more details are added to the mascot.

Alongside mascot, Ngô Kiến Huy's costume design are also gaining attraction. Vương Khang said he was surprised to Ngô Kiến Huy's different concept to his costume every week to perform alongside dancers. According to him, his costumes cost him up to 500 million dong for making every appearance being neat. The mask is also one of the elements that he takes effort to. For him, the host is a symbol of the show; so the masks play an extremely important role in it.

Stage
In each performance, the stage is staged in a different style with meticulous props to illustrate it. Every angle is also calculated to create an extreme performance with excellent visual effects, in order to make more sympathy with the audience.

Security
All contestants in The Masked Singer Vietnam are kept completely anonymous with both the audience and other staff outside the crew. They are not allowed to travel by personal vehicles and are not accompanied by any assistants or managers. Instead, a dedicated car will take them to the set and record at the scheduled time frame. They will then put on their masks and move into the waiting room, each with a separate room, labeled with each artist's name such that no one knows who they are sharing with. Those rooms only allows stylists and crews to come in to assist them with costume-related issues. They always have the companionship and supervision of the crew members whenever they go to ensure absolute confidentiality of their identities. Thảo Trang shared during her participation: "This is not just a gameshow of singing and performing, but also a test of endurance in tight costumes. Wearing this mask is a bit hard to hear, but when singing, each singer will have earphones." Mai Tiến Dũng added: "Parking is also not allowed, everyone has to pick each other up afar, walk in while covered with blankets, each has a separate room. I heard the voice and suspiciously recognize the singer, but I couldn't shake hands, each was completely isolated, and all hidden after singing". The identities of the mascot artists are kept strictly confidential by the crew and are only revealed when they take off their masks on the stage.

Music
Hoài Sa currently is the music director, and also one of the few people who know the real identities of the mascots participating in the show. According to his revelation, there's a legendary artist participating the show. Sharing when he was assigned the role of music director for the program, he said that the participants were not contestants but actually celebrities, and understands what is the strength of each person because he has worked with them before. "But, in the program, they have to sing songs that don't - make - their - name. It's a difficult problem but also exciting for me", he said, "When they practice they sing out of habits, but on stage, the aura will come in and they will have real feelings. I sit there and connect them with the orchestra, the real emotion comes from that."

Broadcasting
The Masked Singer Vietnam debutted on July 16, 2022. The first season premiered on HTV2 - Vie Channel and Vie Giải Trí every Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (GMT+7), alongside the VieON app which premiered it 30 minutes earlier. All episodes are also premiered on Vie Channel's official YouTube channel at 9:00 p.m.. The awards ceremony were live simultaneously on television, the VieON app and the producer's official YouTube channel from 10:30 p.m. on November 19, 2022.

The second season was premiered simultaneously on HTV2, VTVCab 1 and the VieON app every Friday at 9:00 p.m., also premiered on the producer's official YouTube channel. Both main performances and unmasking were aired on the same episode, except for episodes 2-6, which aired the unmasking part as a standalone part on Wednesdays. The awards ceremony was live from 10:00 p.m. on December 16, 2023.

Panelists and host
In the first season, Trấn Thành, Tóc Tiên and Wowy served as the initial panelists, while Ngô Kiến Huy being the host. For some reasons, however, Wowy only appears in the first two rounds, and Đức Phúc was then announced as an alternative. Guest panelists also appear throughout the season. In season two Đức Phúc was replaced by Bích Phương.